Crystal Jewels (manga)
)Crystal Jewels (Japanese:クリスタルジュエル Kurisutarujueru) is a seinen manga series based on the video games created by Saiwai Wada (幸和田). It is the longest running manga series ever on the franchise. It was serialized in BangBang Comic's sister magazine, BangBang Seinen #22 ever since June 1991 in Japan. Unlike other media, it is the only seinen manga in the franchise. It features many protagonists from the video games, and holds 18 sagas. It includes violence and sexual content. The series includes dark and mature themes than any other. It's the third longest running manga in BangBang Family, as well as the longest running Crystal Jewels manga, running currently with 169 volumes and 1,352 chapters (as of November 2019), while it is popular in Japan. The manga is diverged from the video games and the anime canon. While the main characters are in the manga, their remake versions are different characters. There are also some original characters that aren't represented in the video games in the manga. The manga was translated in Chinese, Spanish, French, Thai, Vietnamese, Italian, Portuguese, etc., except English because of it's excessive content. Although it is represent as the only seinen manga in the series, older fans have the will to enjoy Crystal Jewels again when they grow out of the "kiddy" things. Production Saiwai Wada is also known as Yuki Wada for his pen name, but uses his real name when writing the Crystal Jewels manga. He played the games when it came out, and he have been a fan of manga ever since he was a child. He wrote shounen and seinen manga ever since 1982, and wanted to make another one that is more complex. When Gameguys and Demogames asked him to write a manga series, Wada accepted that offer. Wada decided to create the Crystal Jewels manga series and make it into a dark, more complex manga. He began writing four weeks since the first Crystal Jewels games. Writing the first chapter, he made Kouchu into a different personality to fit in in a more, "bad delinquent" style, and has a mind of an adult. Wada finished the first chapter on May 1991. As using Kouchu as an example, Wada comes up with different personality for the character's counterparts. His parents are missing (his father died and his mom went missing) since he was 9, and was taken care by Shigeru, a drug dealer. When designing characters like Futaji, they are original characters to represent the video games according to the sagas that they are on. Futaji is the character whose name was taken to mean number 2 borrowed from the name "Crystal Jewels 2". However, the characters are later changes into their later counterparts, as Jewa from the first arc, is the character based on Valasa from Crystal Jewels Advanced Kingdom. While there are two versions of the characters in the video games, they merge. After the third saga, another character is added names Pakura, which name was taken by Crystal Jewels Pakular. She's also the same person of the female counterpart of the video games, Crystal Jewels Advanced Farko. Wada creates the characters and named them by separating the game titles and their elements. He could also change their personalities and make them different from their video game counterparts. However, Kouchu is the only character whose remake version is a different character. The main character is Sukino from the Advanced Kingdom saga. Wada released the first chapter in the BangBang Magazine on June 1991 of Issue 22. After the new core game is release, a new saga will be release following the core games. In order to boost the story level, he included situations inspired by video games and the anime, and movies. He decided the manga audience for older audiences so they could enjoy Crystal Jewels too. When he planned to adapt the manga into an anime series in 1992-93 for TyataTV, it didn't happen for unknown reasons, and the anime with the same title aired instead with a completely different plot points, and it aired since November 13, 1992. Wada stated that he didn't like the anime because of the character designs from the first 12 seasons (1992 through 2004) and Kouchu and numerous of failures into reaching his goal to become number one. He stated that the show is for kids with no future. Wada appreciated the artwork of the series as well as his designs throughout the years. However, he planned to stop the series by 1998, but due to it's extreme popularity, he decided to continue to earn more money. Plot There are 17 separate story sagas in the series, most have divided into separate subtitles. The Crystal Jewels saga (Volumes 1~11) The Crystal Jewels saga ' is the first saga, based on the ''Crystal Jewels game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from June 1991 through May 1993. Kouchu, a 13-year-old Crystal Brawler, with a missing mom and a dead father, and also happens to be a young bartender for a part time job as shown in the series, also with a sly and serious personality, he ventures to go forward to become Master Champion. He starts off with Ninecoat following him to become his Crystal Monster. Kouchu agrees and they went on. While Kouchu collects the eight medals in order to participate in the Gem Gamer Nine Cup, he encounters Shinsho, his rival who competes against him, befriends Sakuro, Shanji, and Maeko, the other Crystal Brawlers and Kouchu's childhood friends, even though they have worried that Kouchu grew apart from them to earn money working at the bar at such a young age. After collecting all the medals through theft, crimes, and drugs, he arrives at the Gem Gamer Nine, defeated Shinsho (who's already a Master Champion), and gained the title "Master Champion". '''The Crystal Jewels 2 saga (Volumes 12~29) The Crystal Jewels 2 saga ' is the second saga, based on the ''Crystal Jewels 2 game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from July 1993 through May 1996, which is the continuation of the first. Kouchu decided to take his Master Champion place, however, a new coming Crystal Brawler named Futaji, a girl who has a group of Roaracrysts. She gathered Kouchu and his friends to tell them about Hunter Grai, an evil leader of the Furious Five, and Devil J, his soul father. While so, Hunter Grai begins to gather all the Crystal Balls using his inventory with the Furious Five. Kouchu turns into disguise to infiltrate the Furious Five's government tower and destroy the company himself. While he was kidnapped by Grai, Futaji decided to save him using his medals as the key to unlocking the Crystal Power. Kouchu was strong enough to break the chains and knock down the deadbeat Hunter Grai and went out to find Futaji. Even though she has power for her Crystal Monster, she decided to give some to Kouchu to defeat Devil J. Kouchu and his friends also helped Futaji to defeat Hunter Grai and Devil J. When Grai reveal the truth about the Crystal Balls, Kouchu shot him with a gun. '''The Crystal Jewels 3 saga (Volumes 30~41) The Crystal Jewels 3 saga 'is the third saga, based on the ''Crystal Jewels 3 game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from July 1996 through May 1998, and stars a new protagonist, Misan (based on Ryan). His rival, Surisa (based on Ramona), decided to steal his given Crystal Ball in order to get more power on her brawling, and calls it a "good luck charm". However, with Mooselette and his friends Saburo (resembles Jake) and Keizo (resembles Jimmy), he decided to get his first-dime Crystal Ball back by collecting the right medals through crime and punishment in order to become a Master Champion. Once he encounters Surisa for the Crystal Balls, he knew that she was forced to give it to the Farko Five. The Farko Five uses that Crystal Balls to control Crystal Monsters since Devil J is unusuable and is at rest after being defeated by Kouchu and his friends at the previous saga. While so, Misan and Surisa decided to team up with some Medal Holders, after becoming Master Champion, to stop the next chaos of the next saga. '''The Crystal Jewels Pakular saga (Volumes 42~54) The Crystal Jewels ''Pakular ''saga is the fourth saga, based on the Crystal Jewels Pakular game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from July 1998 through July 2000. Introducing the new protagonist, Pakura, only to find out that she has a dark past. Her parents were killed by a mysterious Crystal Monster, and ran away and gets picked up by a foster home. Now, she received help from Misan and friends in order to save her from the same Crystal Monster that killed her parents. That Crystal Monster was Kronium. He was controlled by a evil member of the Furious Five, Fubashi, and threatens to destroy the Crystal World. Misan encounters Kouchu and his friends, and they helped bring down Fubashi and Kronium. The Crystal Jewels Advanced saga (Volumes 55~66) The Crystal Jewels Advanced saga 'is the fifth saga, based on the ''Crystal Jewels Advanced game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from September 2000 through July 2002. Introducing the new protagonists, Haruku (based on Lucas) and Hirodana (Emma). As the journey starts, the two didn't get along after they decided to compete against each other after they both have individual goals to become the champion of the Bow League. However, their friendship is formed after Haruku saves Hirodana from a near-death experience after she was poisoned by the Plazma Five's inventions. Haruku and Emma agrees to save the Crystal World, after completing the medals, and foiling the Plazma Five's plots. However, Hirodana seems to disappear after her rescue from Haruku. '''The Crystal Jewels Advanced 2 saga (Volumes 67~77) The Crystal Jewels Advanced 2 saga 'is the sixth saga, based on the ''Crystal Jewels Advanced 2 game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from October 2002 through May 2004. Upon Hirodana 's disappearance, Haruku befriended an orphan named Doremi, who was adopted by a richer family. Kouchu arrives in Orbon again in order to see Haruku and warned him that Plaza X is arriving. So he insisted Haruku, Doremi, and Taira to help bring down Plazma X before they take advantage of destroying the Crystal World except for themselves. After defeating the Plaza X, Haruku became the Competition Cup Champion, along with Doremi achieving her dream of becoming a Hollywood star. While everyone seperates, Haruku became the new Crystal Jewels Cup Contestany of the Orbon region while grieving over Hirodana's disappearance. '''The Crystal Jewels Advanced 2½ saga (Volumes 78~89) The Crystal Jewels Advanced 2½ ''saga (Part 1) '''is the seventh saga, based on the ''Crystal Jewels Advanced 2½ game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from July 2004 through May 2006. Introducing new characters, Hampei (based on Andrew), and Nakaba (based on Sarah). They are both on the search for the big org that is hidden along Parc's Cave Lair while aiming at their goal to get all the medals and being surrounded by the Galaxy Five's chaos. Soshite helps Hampei into freeing the Crystal Balls from the Galaxy Five traphouse, while Nakaba works on collecting all the orbs to rescue his brother, Densuke, from the Galaxy Five's hands. '''The Crystal Jewels Advanced Kingdom saga (Volumes 90~95) The ''Crystal Jewels Advanced Kingdom saga ''is the eighth saga, based on the Crystal Jewels Advanced Kingdom game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from July 2006 through May 2007. Goushou (based on Kouchu of the Advanced Kingdom game), with a good-going attitude when he went out to become a Crystal Brawler and become Master Champion. After beating the Gem Gamer None from Jarbon, he notices that the Master Champion disappeared. So he went to Shigami Islands because Shari requested him to look for the legendary shards around the Islands. All of sudden, Parc appears and begins to be in control of the Galaxy Five's hands. Goushou, in danger, encounters Kouchu, who reveals himself to become Master Champion, helps Goushou and Barasa save Parc from control. The Crystal Jewels Advanced 2½ saga (Volumes 96~101) The ''Crystal Jewels Advanced 2½ ''saga (Part 2) '''is the seventh saga continues as the eighth as "Part 2" of the Advanced 2½ saga, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from July 2007 through May 2008. Goushou, Kouchu, and his friends arrive to Oregon to where Parc was awakened, and warned Hampei and Nakaba that Parc is destroying the whole Oregon place. Within help from each other, all of the Crystal Brawlers (including Kouchu, Shanji, Sakuro, Barasa, Hampei, Nakaba, Maeko, and Shinsho), all of the 8 Crystal Brawlers team up to defeat the Galaxy Five and save Parc from a bad condition where everything is back to normal. '''The Crystal Jewels Dandfordon Dreams saga (Volumes 102~113) The Crystal Jewels Dandfordon Dreams ''saga '''is the ninth saga, based on the ''Crystal Jewels Dandfordon Dreams game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from July 2008 through May 2010. It features a new protagonist, Kaimu (based on Daniel), and another one called Ayuna (based on Davida), and their childhood friends, Muro and Kuro. Together, the four Crystal Brawlers thrive to earn all the right medals and participate at the Crystalthon Stadium. Meanwhile, the Dream Five interferes within trying to get the Crystal Balls from it and bring it into the quarters. The four Brawlers must stop him from being successful or all is lost. '''The Crystal Jewels Dandfordon Dreams 2 saga (Volumes 114~125) The Crystal Jewels Dandfordon Dreams 2 ''saga '''is the tenth saga, based on the ''Crystal Jewels Dandfordon Dreams 2 game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from July 2010 through May 2012. It features a new protagonist, Mini (based on Daniel of Dandfordon Dreams 2), and a rich Crystal Brawler, Nayu (based on Davida of Dandfordon Dreams 2), who are former police forces who got fired because of the accident caused by Mini's stupidity. Now, in order to become fully-forced Crystal Brawlers, Mini and Nayu must stop the Galaxy Five and the Plazma Five for causing the bomb destruction towards Tynamous and the legend Crystal Monsters in order to receive the honor. '''The Crystal Jewels Souls of Legends saga (Volumes 126~137) The Crystal Jewels Souls of Legends saga 'is the eleventh saga, based on the ''Crystal Jewels Souls of Legends game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from July 2012 through May 2014. It features a new protagonist named Kanta (based on Samuel) and Kanami (based on Tabitha), a business woman of Shikari Street Building. Kanta and Kanami worked with Daisi and Tiroma in order to save the Crystal Monsters by the big Soul Force of the Galaxy Five. However, the strange girl claims Daisi is now part of a murder investigation and might be the number one suspect, no arrest will be made in front of possible friends and neighbors if there's no resistance. Suspicious of this situation, but somewhat trusting of this strange girl, he cautiously agrees to the proposal, the choice was made fast, perhaps too fast, but this situation requires quick thinking. '''The Crystal Jewels Souls of Legends 2 saga (Volumes 138~144) The Crystal Jewels Souls of Legends 2 saga 'is the twelfth saga, based on the ''Crystal Jewels Souls of Legends 2 game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from July 2014 through May 2015. It features a new protagonist named Kino, a Crystal Brawler on a mission to rescue his childhood Crystal Monster from Devil J, and Kito, a girl with mysterious powers, and are able to use them to help her with the fights in the way. Kino claims that Kito is a relative, but that this information was lost in the hospital until recently. This person would like to stay over and catch up on lost time. Certain of the truth in this situation and of this childhood friend, Kito unusually eagerly agrees to the proposal, it all feels very exciting, as if a big adventure was about to begin. '''The Crystal Jewels Garnet and Turquoise saga (Volumes 145~150) The Crystal Jewels Garnet and Turquoise saga 'is the thirteenth saga, based on the ''Crystal Jewels Garnet and Turquoise game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from September 2015 through July 2016. It features a new protagonist named Kareku (based on Evan), and Maria (based on Adriana), as they full fill their dream into being the Crystal Brawlers ever to discover the Great Big Orb on the planet. However, the Orb Five is also looking for the orb, and with Ganetto and Takoizu, the Brawlers try to foil their plots into awakening the legendary Crystal Monster, Garnetism and Turquoisism. '''The Crystal Jewels Garnet 2 and Turquoise 2 saga (Volumes 151~156) The ''Crystal Jewels Garnet 2 and Turquoise 2 ''saga '''is the fourthteenth saga, based on the Crystal Jewels Garnet 2 and Turquoise 2 game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from September 2016 through July 2017. It features a new protagonist named Meguru (based on Evan of Garnet 2 and Turquoise 2) and Rinna (based on Adriana of Garnet 2 and Turquoise 2). A newcomer, Amethyst, is kidnapped by Tyro, a evil scientist who uses him to change the world to however he wanted using him as hostage. Now, with the help of Ichigo, Aroku, Garnet, and Turquoise, Meguru and Rinna saves Amethyst. '''The Crystal Jewels Advanced Farko saga (Volumes 157~158) The Crystal Jewels Advanced Farko saga is the fifteenth saga, based on the Crystal Jewels Advanced Farko game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from September 2017 through January 2018. Misan and his friends returned to Farko after their disappearance to another region in order to investigate a murder of Dr. Kenichi, a scientist of Crystal Balls. Whoever murdered him must've know where the Crystal Balls are located. With providence, Misan, Surisa, Pakura, Saburo, and Keizo, team up all together to stop the Furious Five's next plan of chaos in order to save Farko once again from the awakened merged Crystal Monster. The Crystal Jewels Moon Blade saga (Volumes 159~164) The Crystal Jewels Moon Blade saga 'is the sixthteen saga, based on the ''Crystal Jewels Moon Blade game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine from February 2018 through November 2018. The new saga features new characters, Naito (based on Issac), and Mitzuki (based on Hariette), and their adventures starts out as they didn't get along when they first met each other, until they set their differences aside to help the Nishidas and save the Moon Holders from the possessed Moonlia, a Crystal Monster controlled by the Galaxy Five, to destroy the Crystal World. '''The Crystal Jewels Astrodvanced saga (Volumes 165~170) The Crystal Jewels Astrodvanced saga 'is the seventeenth and latest saga, based on the ''Crystal Jewels Astrodvanced game, ran publication in the BangBang Seinen Magazine since February 2019. Haruku, Doremi, Taira, Hampei, Nakaba, and Soshite all teamed up together in Ofbon to prevent the world destruction chaos from the space spell. However, the mission seems to be complicated until Hirodana finally came back to save everyone. '''The Crystal Jewels Within a Spiders' Power saga (Volumes 171~?) Differences from the video games * The characters are older than their 9-year-old counterparts. At the beginning of the saga, they are 12-15, and when the saga ends, the story always skip a year. * The characters aren't the same characters from their remakes. For an example, there is another character who is based on Kouchu from Advanced Kingdom. * Unlike the video games, where his parents are alive, Kouchu's mother disappeared and his father died, leaving him to be adopted by Shigeru, a drug dealer and a Crystal Brawler expert. * Some of the characters' clothes differs from time to time. For an example, Kouchu is sometimes shirtless. * Unlike the video games, Maeko and Jude are canonically a couple. They first met in the second saga after Maeko snapped Jude out of Grai's control. * The characters are the same as in the game, but the characters vary considerably between versions. * The manga appears to be more mature in the manga while the video game is for all ages. * The plot of the manga is added to make the story arcs longer while the video games have their plots limited. * Valasa has a counterpart who was initially original to the manga. Her name is Barasa, and is also her manga counterpart. Characters International publications The Crystal Jewels manga have released in other countries outside Japan. The manga released in Chinese, also named with the sequels. It also became popular in China, as well as being the bestselling manga. It was release in China in Mandarin as 水晶珠宝 (Shuǐjīng zhūbǎo), and was released in Hong Kong in Cantonese as 水晶珠寶 (Shuǐjīng zhūbǎo). Each of the volumes were translated in Chinese. The manga was released in PingPing Press since 1993. The manga was released in Spanish by Extreme Comics in New Mexico and Spain since 1997. It was known as Luchadores de joyas de cristal ("Crystal Jewels Brawlers"). It also named the series within its subtitles, for an example, Joyas de cristal luchadores avanzados "Crystal Jewels Brawlers Advanced". It stated that the series is successful in Spain and New Mexico, so they continued the series. So as the series ran, it became bestselling. However, in 2008, the series moves to EcardoPage Comics because of translation problems with Extreme Comics. The Spanish translation made it more kidfriendly and was read from left to right. Due to how many volumes are there, every two of those volumes are combined to make a single volume. It was translated in French in 2001 by Panini Comics as Aventures de bijoux en cristal ("Crystal Jewels Adventures"). It stopped the title in 2019 and released Garnet and Turquoise separately as Bijoux en cristal GT ("Crystal Jewels GT"). The first volume was released in France in 2002. However, Panini Comics stopped the publication by Crystal Jewels Advanced 2 in 2008, and resumes it in 2011 starting with Crystal Jewels Dandfordon Dreams. Crystal Jewels Advanced 2½ was published in 2018. While the volumes are being published, they are numbered by order of publication date. The manga was read right to left, as in specific order. The Panini Comics have made the manga successful, and it's also best selling in France. The manga was also translated in Thai in Thailand as คริสตัลเจเนอเรชั่นเจเนอเรชั่น ("Crystal Jewels Generations" Khris̄tạl ce nex rechạ̀n ce nex rechạ̀n) by Comicland in 1996. The manga is read right to left by specific order. The publication combines three volumes into one volume. The manga was also published in Vietnamese in Vietnam in 2003 under the title Dồ trang sức pha lê: quái vật pha lê ("Crystal Jewels: Crystal Monsters"). The manga was published by Natån Entertainment, the large manga publishing company. The characters names have also changed in this translation depending on the English version. For an example, Kouchu is named Kouchu Misako, and Shinsho is called Marcy Kimensho to match the anime. The manga ran 79 volumes and was cancelled due to their company being bankrupt due to lower ratings causing the company to close. The edition was read left to right format with reversed artwork. However, the series is brought back in 2016 by TwichMadam Publications, starting with the 73rd volume. Then, the manga was published in Italy with the Italian language in 2000. The manga is read by the left to right format respectively. It was published by Space Entertainment Family by the title, Ricerca di gioielli in cristallo ("Crystal Jewels Quest"). The manga was published until 2013, and the manga was bankrupted due to low ratings. However, the Souls of Legends, Souls of Legends 2, Garnet and Turquoise, Garnet 2 and Turquoise 2, and the Moon Blade saga was all published in the GreatBritian Company. The manga have published the series separately within the subtitles, with the Crystal Jewels 2 saga, starting with chapter 1, meaning that every saga starts with Volume 1. The Crystal Jewels 3 saga was published in 2001, the Crystal Jewels Advanced saga was published in 2003, Crystal Jewels Advanced 2½ in 2006, and Crystal Jewels Dandfordon Dreams in 2010. The manga was also published in Portuguese in 1995. The manga was read left to right format, and it was published by GáríanGó under the title Jóias de cristal do mangá ("Crystal Jewels the Manga"). The manga published combined volumes, starting with volume 1 and 2. The manga have been successful, so they continue to publish it in Portuguese. In Malaysia, the manga was translated as Permata kristal Z ("Crystal Jewels Z") since late 2005 under TurgeTopPress. The manga was even published in Poland in Polish since 1996. However, the series was discontinued in 1999 after the Crystal Jewels 2 saga because of the low ratings, and the issues were never collected in the volume as they plan to release the 30th volume. In Finnish, the manga was publishes by HanchenPress in 2011 starting with the Crystal Jewels Dandfordon Dreams saga. And the volumes of the previous sagas were also published starting in 2013. The manga was published in the left to right format within the flipping the artwork. This translation is also censored. The manga was also published in Russia in the Russian translation in 1993 in two volumes in one. It is successful and it is still publishing today as well. The manga was best selling in Russia as the manga grew more popular. The version was also censored and was in the right to left format. The manga was also translated in Greece in the Greek language as κρυστάλλινα κοσμήματα πρωταθλητής ("Crystal Jewels Master Champion" krystállina kosmímata protathlitís), with only the first 29 volumes published and the publication ran from 1994 through 1998. The manga was translated in Korean as 크리스탈 보석 ("Crystal Jewels" keuliseutal boseog) under the Guavó Company since 1994, and released up to 149 to date. The manga was publishes in German in 2002 by Panini under the title, Kristallschmuck Helden ("Crystal Jewels Heroes"), and was censored for content. The characters were renamed to match the anime. It is read left to right, and was published with two volumes in one. The manga was also published in Andorra by Catalan in 2006 by VinciComics, and the manga was released in the left to right format. Release runs Gallery large-4956704 (1).jpg|Crystal Jewels #8 published in Mandarin large-8446519 (1).jpg|Crystal Jewels #53 in Spanish large-2404624 (1).jpg|Crystal Jewels Volumes 39 and 40 combined to make #20 in French. large-1300864 (2).jpg|Crystal Jewels 115-117 combined to #39 in Thai large-6870736 (1).jpg|Crystal Jewels 31 in Vietnamese English publishing problem In the mid-1990s, the manga was planned to be released in English. However, the manga didn't release in MangaMedia because the publishing company claimed that the manga's content can be found as unpleasant for young Crystal Jewels fans. Even Ching Yi won't publish the manga in English for unknown reasons. The manga can't be published in English because it's has such traditional symbols. There is much speculation by fans as to the reason for this, as the manga is quite popular in Japan. There happens to be sex and nudity, as well as gore. The content gets much strong during the first two sagas. For an example, Kouchu, a 12-13 year old, smokes a cigar and drinks booze, and often gets drunk. His adultish personality seems to have caused this English publication to be rejected. However, Kouchu also uses guns and beat up and bribe adults (like tricking them to get arrested, and twisting their necks, and other violent things). He's also around drugs and violence. And there happens to be male and female nudity (such as sex taking place around the fifth volume, and skinny dipping, masturbation, and rape implied). Violence and gore happens in almost every chapter (gunshots, stabbing, etc.), and such coarse language. There are also very intense scenes and dark themes as the story flows.